Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A naturally rounded paving stone.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A cobble or rounded stone; especially, such a stone used in paving.
- To pave with cobblestones.
Wiktionary
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A large pebble; a rounded stone not too large to be handled; a small boulder; -- used for paving streets and for other purposes.
WordNet 3.0
- v. pave with cobblestones
- n. rectangular paving stone with curved top; once used to make roads
Etymologies
- Middle English cobelston : obsolete cobel, probably diminutive of cob, round object; see cob + Middle English ston, stone, stone; see stone.
Examples
“If you have not had your fill of ghost-ridden heroes, needy orphans, and foggy nights in cobblestone streets, this sequel - with its breakneck plot, colorful characters, and the reappearance of Scrooge and the Cratchits - will fill the bill.”
“This type of cobblestone is typical on the hillsides even when fronting million dollar homes.”
Treasure of the Sierra Madre -- wintering in San Miguel de Allende
“Rubén was correct in his explanation of a "cobblestone" street.”
“Winding our way through the city streets, the jangle of harnesses and the steady clop of our horses’ hooves on the cobblestone were the only sounds.”
“When they stepped from their carriages onto the cobblestone streets, they could see that they were in for a very long war.”
“One rainy day I walked to an out-of-the-way section of town where the buildings were old, and the streets were cobblestone.”
“You won't find many grand colonial homes and winding cobblestone streets as in some areas of the mainland, nor is there a large indigenous Mexican population.”
“This is an extremely quiet neighborhood, with artists 'studios and a health food store along the cobblestone streets and I've seen places for rent and sale nearby.”
“Or the cobblestone-streeted one south of the Rio Cuale, with little cafes and bougainvillea-covered hillsides?”
“The village of Zirahuén is a small collection of homes and resident serving tiendas (shops) laid out in a patchwork of dirt, cobblestone and gravel roads.”
Lists
‘cobblestone’ hasn't been added to any lists yet.
yarb Great comment, rolig. I love bulyzhnik! Nov 26, 2007
rolig In Russian, the word for cobblestone is "bulyzhnik," a lovely roundish word that fits nicely in the hand of a revolutionary. In Slovene, the humble cobblestone is the more angular "tlakovec" (the final "c" is pronounced as "ts"), a word that still seems to carry the echoes of horse hooves and carriage wheels. Nov 26, 2007
librarymistress slow down, you move too fast
you got to make the morning last
just kicking down the cobble stones...
(Simon & Garfunkel) Sep 25, 2007
jennarenn These are downright obnoxious when they're too rounded; I can see why they went out of fashion. Aug 20, 2007